Heading into Wednesday night's Game 3 matchup, the Philadelphia Phillies had their backs against the wall facing elimination against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Many had already written them off.

Despite the tough situation, the Phillies rallied. For the first time all series, their offense came through when they needed it the most. That resulted in a dominant 8-2 win to extend the series to Game 4 on Thursday night.

Coming into the series, the blueprint to beating the Dodgers was clear. Philadelphia needed its offense to play at a high level and the pitching staff needed to limit the long ball. In Game 3, the Phillies were able to accomplish that goal perfectly.

Kyle Schwarber led the charge for the team's offense, hitting two home runs to go along with three RBI. J.T. Realmuto also hit a home run, while Trea Turner finished the game hitting 3-for-5 with two RBI. Brandon Marsh rounded out the scoring with an RBI of his own.

As it was coming into the series, the blueprint for Philadelphia to win Game 4 to force a winner-take-all Game 5 remains the same. The Phillies need their offense to produce.

Looking at the lineups, Philadelphia can compete with Los Angeles. From a pitching perspective, the Dodgers are stacked in the bullpen, but again, the Phillies can compete.

Aaron Nola started off Game 3 with two scoreless innings. Behind him, Ranger Suarez was brought in and pitched five innings of one-run baseball. If the pitching staff can make life difficult on Los Angeles, they'll stand a chance to pull off another win.

Rob Thompson, Philadelphia's manager, spoke out specifically about Shohei Ohtani, who went 0-for-5 during Game 3.

“I really don't want to comment on that because, I mean, he can explode at any time. He's that great of a hitter. But we have pitched him well,” Thompson said.

At the end of the day, the Phillies simply have to make sure that Ohtani and the rest of the Dodgers' lineup doesn't "explode" over the next two games. 

Only time will tell and Philadelphia is still facing an uphill battle to come back and win this NLDS series. Los Angeles is not going to lay down after losing Game 3. However, if the Phillies can find a way to win Game 4 and head back to Citizens Bank Park for a primetime Saturday night matchup with everything at stake, they might just find themselves advancing to the NLCS.

Hopefully, Philadelphia is able to follow the obvious blueprint. The offense needs to play up to its potential and the pitching staff needs to make things difficult. That will give the Phillies a legitimate fighting chance.